Chapter 13

Chapter 13 was mainly about the ILY sign. It starts by saying that some people have noticed that Deaf friends respond negativity to this sign and they wondered why. The book begins with the orientation of this sign. It was a known sign for a long long time, since 1905. Many people don't recall seeing the sign frequently until the 50s, 60s, and 70s. It became a huge sign when Jimmy Carter signed it to Deaf people on Inauguration Day. Since Jimmy Carter did this, the ILY sign has become a national thing. People sign it all the time to one another. Some Deaf people dont mind the ILY sign, others are tired of seeing it. Another thing the book said was, "Do it wrong and you usually end up with the sign for "bullshit" - not the sort of thing you'd want to wave at a stranger." I thought this was pretty funny because it would be so embarrassing if you did sign that to a stranger.

I enjoyed reading this chapter because it explained this sign and where it came from. It also explained why some Deaf people dont like seeing this sign. In the chapter there was a section about Sesame Street and the little girl saw Deaf people on the side of the road signing ILY so someone would stop and help them. I thought it was really cute that the little girl knew they needed help and had her dad stop for them. It may have not been the smartest thing because of strangers but it was sweet.